Fluid-flow meter.



H. H.. MAPBLSDEN. FLUID FLOW METER.

unicum! Hmm slm'. 11. ma.

Patented Oct. 21, 1913.

Witnesses Inventor-z Harold H 2b elsden,

coLunllA rLANonlArn co.. 'Hulman-1N. l. n:4

H. H. MAPELSDEN. FLUID FLOW METER.

APPLxoA'rlon rxLnD SEPT. 11, 190s.

Patented 0011.21, 1913.

A? Fig. (o

"f3 L L @l mmm Inventor: Harold H Maplsden,

Wmejsses:

f therefore he STATES HAROLD H2 MAPELSDEN, 0F SCHENECTADY," NEWYORK;ASSIGNOIR.` T0 GENERAL ELECTRIC' COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF'NEW'YORK.

FLUIDLFLOW' METER.'

Speoication et Letters-Patenti PatentedOct. 21, 1913.

Application lod Septcmbenll, 1908.- Serial N o. 452,546.

To allie/10m, it'may concern Be it known that I, HAROLD H. Martinsincx.acitizen of the United States, residing at. Schenectady, county ofSchenectady, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful.Iuin'ovements in Fluid- Flow- Meters,.of which. the following is aspecification.

rlChis invention relates to uiparatus for indicating and recordingr theilow ofl steam or other tluidsthrough. iipes, and has especialAreference to that orm of` such apparatusas appears inthe )endingapplication of-A. R. Dodge, Serial` 0.421,696. It will, described. andillustrated in connection with thatparticular meter, but the applicationof it. to-other forms of simila:l apparatus-is not thereb abandoned.

In this meter an agent or evice for creatinfr ai pressure differencehaving-a definite relation to the rate o flow is insertedin the main inwhich` the {lowis tofbe measured. rEhev agent illustrated? comprises twofunnels or. sets ofy funnels or-openings facing in difierent directions,one funnel or set toreceiveV the impact of the'steam or other fiuid andthe other to cause a suction due to the flow of steam. The agentisconnected with two communicating mercury cups mounted on a beamsuitably fulcruined and carrying a sliding weight. Any variation iiisteam flow causes4 a differential rassure on the mercur in thecups,.where y the mercury shifts rom one to the other and. tilts thebeam. The weight is then moved to restore the equilibrium, andthe extentof such movement is an indication of, the chan in ilow of the steam,while the position o the weight along ay graduated scale may indi catethe actual flow oi steam in pounds per unit ofy time.

My invention consists in a peculiar shape of the mercury cupsby wbic ithe readings of the instrument are much simplified.

The specific features of novelty will appear from the following descrition and claims taken in connection with t e accompanying drawings,.inwhich- Figure 1 is a side view of. a flowI meter embodying myinvention;Y Fig. 2. is an; end view of the same; Fig. 3.isan edgeview ofthe agent b` means ofl which the eiect of changes in tiei'ate of fluidflow in. the main is-communicatedto t-lie meter; Fi 4 is a front view ofthe same removed izi'oni the main; Fig. 5 is.a.crossscction of the same;Fig. 6 is a diagram of the circuit connections ofthe motor, and. Fig; 7is a longitudinalsection, on an enlarged scale, of one of the cups. orcontainers which form the subject-matter of my invention.

The tlow meter to which I have applied my invention is ofV the type setforth in the Dodge application, above referred to, and comprises abase 1on which is. supported a frame of suitable shape having seats 2 onopposite legs to support the knife-edges 3, on which is fulcrumed themovable element on beam 4. A. weight 5 is equi pcd with rollers whichride on the tnisicd upper surface of, the beam, so that said weight cantravel: freely to and fro. An electric motor G isfastencd to one end ofthe beam and is geared to a lead-screw 7 journalcd in suitable bearingsbelow the beam and running paralleltherewith. This screw meshes witscrew-threads tapped through the weight 5. SpeedLreducing gearing 8modcrates the rate of rotation of said screw by the motor. The beam ismounted on a frame 9 which depends below the supporting knife-edges3,'and supports two mercury cups or containers 10, l1 whose lower endsare connected by a pipe 12y provided with a valve 13. 'Ilhe cups arepreferably situated at equal distances. from the knifeedges 8 so astobalance cach other. The cups and the pipe 12 are partly filled withmercury or other relatively heavy liquid 14, on top of which isa body ofwater 15 due tothe-condensation of the steam. The cups are supportedyfrom the frame 9 by the pipes 16y and 17 which are fastened into locks18, 19 secured to the frame on either side ofthe vertical plane of thecups, and in the same vertica plane as the knifeedges 3.

Depending from the stationary frame of the apparatus arc 'exibleconnectors 20, 21 which convey water under pressure to the pipes 16,17..Each connector is composed of a helical' coilof flattened pipe, the axisof the coil beingv vertical and substantially in: thel vertical plane ofthe knife-edges 3. The connectors are connected, at their upperends,.respectively, to the water reservoirs 22,

respectively, to 16, 17 and the 23, and at their lower ends, the blocks1S, 19, the pipes mercury cups 10, 11.

The water reservoirs used when measuring steam or other condensablefluids are supported on the frame 1 and are connected by pipes 24, 25with passages 26, 27 running parallel with each other and longitudinallythrough an agent or device 28 1ocatcd in the inan 29. The agent ismounted on a screw-threaded plug 30 which is screwed into a tapped holein the main and holds said agent at right anglestothe stream of steamflowinrf through said main. In the front face of tie agent, a ainstwhich the steam impinges, are severa conical funnels or openings 8lcommunicating with passage 27. Conical holes 32 are drilled through theagent from its rear side, intersecting the passage 26. Variations in thevelocity of iow of the steam produce diferential variations in pressurein the openings 31 and 32, and these variations are communicated by thepipes 24, 25 to the water in the reservoirs 22, 23 and thence to themercury in the cups 10, 11, causing a transfer of more or less mercuryfrom one cup to the other and a consequent tilting of the beam 4. Bymoving the weight 5 a ong the beam until equilibrium is restored, anindication of the velocity of the steam is obtained, from which thequantity of steam can be calculated. To make a erxnanent record of theflow, a suitable mar {er 33 is attached to the weight to copcrate with asuitably ruled record sheet 34, which may be driven in any suitablemanner over a roller 35.

The weight 5 is shifted to and fro by the motor 6, whose controlcircuits are shown in diagram in Fig. 6. Mounted on some part of themoving element of the meter is an arm 36 carrying an insulated contact37. Adjustable contacts 38, 39 are secured to a fixed support andlocated on either side of the contact 87, the clearance between thembeing exaggerated in Fig. 1 for the sake of clearness in illustration.The contacts 38, 39 are connected, respectively, with the two mains 40,41 of a suitable electric supply circuit. Thej.' are also connected withthe terminals of the winding 42 of a solenoid relay magnet. The contact37 is connected to the middle point of said winding. A resistance 43reduces the low of current throu h the solenoid. At one cnd of thesolenoi core 44 is a bar carrying two insulated contacts 45 which cocrate with stationary contacts 46 to cause t ie motor armature 47 torotate in one direction, while at the other end of said core is a barcarrying insulated contacts 48 which cooperate with fixed contacts 49 toreverse the direction of rotation of said armature.v When' the beam 4 isin equilibrium the contact 37 stands midway between the contacts 38, 39and the entire winding 42 of the solenoid is energized, holding its corein a central position with the armature circuits open, as shown in Fig.6. If now there is a change in iiow in the main it causes enough mercuryto enter one of the cups to tilt the beam and close the circuit throughthe contact 37 and one of its co acting stationary contacts. Thisshort-circuits that part of the solenoid winding connected to saidstationary contact, and the effect of the other half of the winding isto pull the core toward that end of the solenoid, closing the motorcircuit and starting it in a direction to shift the weight upwardlyalong the beam iii order to restore its equilibrium. The return of thebeam to a level position breaks the circuit at the contacts and allowsthe current to energize the entire solenoid, thereby bringing the coreback to its central position and opening the motor circuit. This actionis repeated each time a change in flow in the main takes place. Theosition of the weight along the beam indicates the flow at any instant,and the marker carried b the weight makes a permanent record on tiechart. In order to stop the motor promptly when the circuit is opened, aresistance 50 is connected in shunt to the armature to absorb thecurrent generated by the momentum of the armature.

ln the form of meter shown in the Dodge application above referred to,the mercury cups are cylindrical. The record sheet must, of course, beruled in agreement with the law of variation of level of the mercuryunder varying decrees of velocity of flow of the steam or other fluid.The curve found by plotting the rate of flow against the difference inlevel (if pressure and quality of steam remain constant) is a parabola.'lhc record sheet in the Dodge meter must, therefore, havea arabolicscale. Now, inasmuch as this scale is correct only for a given pressureand quality of the steam, the record must be corrected when otherpressures and qualities exist. It is somewhat dillicult to make thesecorrections accurately on a para bolic scale, and my invention has forits object the distortion of this naturally para* bolic scale into auniform or into a logarithmic or other suitable scale in order to renderpressure and quality corrections more easy of accomplishment.

To produce a uniform scale, the two mercury cups are made of varyingdiameter so that for any certain similar increases in the rate of flowthe weight always moves the same distance along the beam. Correctionsfor pressure and quality then consist of straight line relations andthese corrections are simple. Correction may also be made so as t0 al owthe same scale to be used for any diameter of pipe. Broadly speaking, Ican obtain any scale by properly varying the immane diameter of thecups. I prefer to use two similar cups 10, 11 oppositely placed. Theseare set with their axes vertical and their greatest diameters in thesame horizontal plane, the smallest diameter of cup 10 being elow thisplane, while that of cup 11 is an equal distance above it. Thecurvatures of the two cups are such that the surface areas of themercury therein are always equal at corresponding levels. The lawofrcurvature of the cup for a uniform scale I find tobe expressed bytlieformula i where 1' represents the iadius of the cup at anydeflection or distance d down from the zero level; m being the movementof the weight in inches corresponding to a ivan value of d; w the weightof said weig it in pounds; R the radius from the center line of theknife-edges to the center line of the cup, aiid .49 being the weight inpounds 4of a cu ic inch of mercury. It will be seen that the onlyvariables are m and cl, and that the square of the radius at successivedistances from the `zero level varieslas the movement of the wei httimes a constant uantity divided by t ie square root of the deflection.The quantities m and d have been referred to as variables but for anygiven value of d there is a definite and assigned value for m, which isdeterminable from the law expressing the relation of the two quantities.The particular shape derived by this rule is shown in Fig. 7. It will beobserved that the radius shortens vcply rapidly during the first portionof the de cction from the zero level w, but during succcedin port-ionsit becomes nearly constiiut. '1 iis results in a trumpet-shaped cup`with a long stem and a suddenly flaring mouth. With cups of this shape,the weight will move along the beam by equal increments to compensatefor equa variations in the flow of the steam, and the chart or recordsheet or strip can be ruled ofi` with lines at equal distances a art torepresent, for example, pounds o steam; thereby Igreatly simplifying thereading and correction of the records made upon said chart.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I havedescribed the principle of operation of my invention, to ether with theapparatus .which I now consi er to represent the best embodimentthereof; but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown isonly illustrative and that tho invention can be carried out by othermeans.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of 4theUnited States, is,

1. In a fluid meter, the combination with a tilting frame, of twocommunicating cu s supported thereon on opposite sides of tile .axis ofmovement, a conduit connectin said cu a volume of heavy liquid in saiconduit and cu s, means for subjecting said liquid todi erences of fluidpressure, and a movable means for restoring the equilibrium of theframe, each of said cups decreasing in cross-section from a point ofzero llevel, and the Square of the radius at any given point beingdetermined by a constant times the movement of said means divided by thesquare root of the corresponding distance'of said point from the zerolevel.

2. In a fluid meter, the combination with a tilting frame, of twocommunicating trumpet-shaped cu s supported thereon on opposite sides 0the axis of movement, one of said cups being inverted, and both havingtheir zero level in the saaie horizontal plane, a conduit connectingsaid cups, a volunie of heavy li uid in said conduit and cups with itssur ace normally at the zero level, means for subjecting said liquid todieiential fluidl ressiires, and means for restoring the equi ibrium ofsaid frame.

3. In a. fluid meter, means for enabling the use of a record sheet ofuniform scale comprising a tilting beam, a weight movable thereon,'amarker actuated by the weight, two communicating triimpet-sliaped cupsone ofwhich is inverted and both supported on said beam, the radius of acup at any point dependingupon a constant times the movement of-- t eweight divided by the square root of the corresponding distance of saidpoint from a plane of zero level, a conduit connecting said cups, avolume of heavy liquid in said conduit and cups, and means forsubjecting said liquid to differential fluid pressures.

4. In a fluid meter, means for enabling the use of a record sheet ofuniform scale, comprising a tilting bea-m, a weight movable thereon, amarker actuated by the weight two communicating mercury cups supportedon said beam on opposite sides of the fiilcriim, said cups diminishin inarea from a common zero level and being so arranged that the surface ofthe mercury in both cu s is always of the same area irrespective of t iedegree of displacement thereof from the zero level, and means connectingsaid cups.

5. In a fluid meter, means for enabling the use of a record sheet ofuniform scale comprising a tilting beam, two cups having a cross-sectionof varying radius and mounted on the beam at opposite sides of its axisof movement, a conduit connecting the cups, a body of liquid in theconduit and cups with its surface normally at zero level, means forsubjectn the liquid to different fluid pressures, an means controlled bythe beam for restoring the equilibrium of the said beam including amember movably mounted on the beam and a marker actuated by the memberfor making a record on the sheet,

How-responsive means.

8. In a meter for measurmg the 4flow of givenapointibein'g u'al tothemovementrof said membertlmes its weight; divided -b ,la constant timesthe'squere rootf ofthe@ isA tance of the int from lzero level. w

6. In a Huid meter, the combination-with a tilting frame, of a luralityyof.-cups su ported thereon infba enced relationlto lt e axis .ofmovement ofl the 'frame-.conduit means connectin the cups,` a bodygof,liquid in thecups an theiryconlneetingl means, a device for subjecting.said :liquid to differen-V tial uid pressures, means .controliedby-the vtilting frame fon'restorin the equilibrium of said framenfter it has ntilted,'and ;a recording device actuntedeb saidresto'ring meansincluding a scalesai cu s diminishin in area-from a normal zeroevel sothat said scale is Ivaried from a parabolicl scale.

7. In a meter for measurin' 'thei of fluid through n. main,-the;,oomlna'tionnigith u. tilting beam or^frame, ofamvveightmow able thereon,means responsive.tn tliegilowy of Huid throughtthe mainlIforltilting.-,the beam, suid means including amercurycol umn `that 1s moved as :theflowvaries, 'and a cup for contnin ing partof ,the column, said cupdlminishin in cross-sectional area. from a normaLzero evel, acontainingmeans for the other partofthe'eolumn, and e, device actuatedby Xthe beamfor moving-the weight to restore saidtbeernjoa position ofequilibrium after it has .been tilted by, said seem er um patent my inmaine thelsquaregradius ofy the;cups",atj'ltllijlif;.fluid main, thecombination of a -scale beam,e.a hollow member` supported by .-tllebem,said memberdlminlshin incrosssectional-area from one end tower theother,

means-wjhereby the-weight of the contents ...of .the member isautomatically varied by '..changes Vin therate of yflow through theVmaxim-a. counter-balance weight on the beam,

and means-wherebythe weight is automati cally moved lalong the beam tocounterbalance any change `1n the weight of the contents of said member.

' 9. In a meter for measurin the How of :fluid through a."-main, the cominntion of a beam, two-.vesselssupported on the beam, one ateach side ofits pivot, said vessels diminishing in cross-sectional area from n nor-,"mal zero' level, u connection between the vessels, the'vesselsland theconnection contuin 'a bod of 1i uid ein greater density than at oft eHui to be measured, menus wherebya change in the rate of flow through"thema-1n automatically chan es the relative `vveghts f the contents oft e vessels, said Jchanges of the weights ofthe contents tending to movethe beam, and means for auto- 'maticallyy compensating for the effect ontho ,beam 'of an change in the relative weights 'of aidcon nts.

'fIngwite'ss whereof, I have hereunto set hand this 9th da of Se tomber,1908.

t' HARGL H. PELSDEN. "Witnesses:

BRNJAMIN B. HULL,

MARGARET E. WooLLnr.

for 'In eents auch, the commissioner of Patents, ;i.-Wuh!n'ton,n.0.ff

